The Twelve

Okay. I finished this a few days ago. I didn't want to write about it immediately - so often when I do that, I can't come up with anything to say. I had hoped to let my thoughts about this book marinate (while working on a few other books at the same time) - we'll see how it went.

I should start by talking about The Passage, which is the first book in this trilogy. If you haven't read The Passage, you should get on that, both because it is awesome, and also because most of what I say from here on out will make little sense without the context of that book. Let me be clear, there is very little attempt in The Twelve to bring new readers up to speed or even to remind old readers of what happened in the first book. It didn't really bother me - I've always hated the rehashing books in series do during the first chapters (and often skip them entirely) and I've read The Passage three times (I think). I know the story pretty well. (That said, there were a few things that tripped me up too - if you read The Passage when it came out and never again, getting back into Cronin's world might be kind of tough.) Anyway, like I said, I think The Passage is pretty delightful (if your idea of delightful involves zombie vampires). It's a great book for a long weekend, to be devoured in big gulps - if you stretch it out too long, you might start forgetting where everyone in the sizable cast of characters fits into the storyline that spans a century. This devouring isn't hard though - once you get into the story, it's hard to pull yourself away.

I suspect it would be best to read The Twelve this way, too. I didn't really do that because I was just so excited - I started it as soon as I got it home and read it whenever I could sneak it in. The Passage ends on a cliffhanger and I expected to pick up from there with this book, but that isn't the case. Instead, we get a brief check-in with Amy and Alicia, then are dumped back into the past to meet some strangers from the old days. I was surprised to find that Lila Kyle, ex-wife of Brad Wolgast (surrogate father to Amy) played such a large part in these early chapters (and, of course, in the later story) - in The Passage, she was little more than background, an archetypal character to explain why Wolgast was the way he was. In The Twelve, she is an entirely different kettle of fish. Seriously. A weird, weird duck, all the way (deliciously creepy in her delusions).

I won't try to summarize - with this sprawling cast and epic scope, it would take me all night. But I can say without reservations that I really dug this book. It's dark and creepy, with plenty of sequences that will leave you breathless; it also has moments that will bring you to happy tears. If you liked The Passage (and again, I cannot emphasize how much you need to read that before picking this up), you'll enjoy this.

Next up: Oh boy. So, I checked out three books right before I bought The Twelve - from the YALSA Top 10, Across the Universe and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, as well as James Dashner's Maze Runner prequel, The Kill Order (I have mixed feelings about this trilogy as a whole, but I frakking loved The Scorch Trials, so I have high hopes for this one). Obviously, they fell by the wayside when I got The Twelve. When I finished The Twelve, I started in on Across the Universe. Then I went book shopping (for the library - one of the best things about my job) and bought the new Lemony Snicket book, Who Could That Be At This Hour? It was irresistible. Across the Universe set aside, Lemony Snicket picked up. Also, today I got my reading list for the YA Lit class I'll be taking next semester; when the aforementioned books have been read (also, Outcasts United, another of my shopping purchases), expect to start hearing about those.

Whew!